Beauty School Pays $11 Million In Whistleblower Case

A once-popular for-profit beauty school chain, closed since earlier this year, has agreed to pay the government and six whistleblowers $11 million over claims that it defrauded taxpayers out of federal financial aid funding.

The Marinello Schools of Beauty closed in February after the government stopped paying financial aid at 23 of its campuses, leaving 4,300 students in limbo.

Details of the settlement of the whistleblower lawsuit filed under the U.S. False Claims Act were announced this week.

Among other things, the government and individual whistleblowers, all former Marinello employees, claimed that, in order to make students qualify for financial aid, the school: falsified high school diplomas; manipulated attendance records; and misrepresented licensing, graduation and job-placement statistics.

The federal government in recent years has cracked down on for-profit schools, such as Marinello, by scrutinizing their financial aid records.

On behalf of whistleblowers, Ross Feller Casey is actively investigating and helping the government prosecute cases involving fraud at for-profit institutions, including beauty and cosmetology schools.

Ross Feller Casey is a Philadelphia law firm with a national reputation for winning major qui tam lawsuits, including those involving education fraud.

If you or someone you know has information about financial aid fraud, you should contact our dedicated team of whistleblower lawyers immediately.

Your ability to file a successful whistleblower lawsuit could be limited, so the time to act is now.